Islamic State loses ground on fronts in Syria, Iraq

Islamic State’s far-flung enemies in Syria and Iraq pressed ahead on Wednesday with major advances on multiple fronts that have put some of the greatest pressure on the ultra-hardline Islamists since they declared their caliphate two years ago. A spokesman for a U.S.-backed alliance in northern Syria said it was poised to enter the city of Manbij, a week after launching an assault with the aim of cutting off the last stretch of Turkish frontier still under Islamic State control. A short distance further west, rebels fighting against both Islamic State and the government of President Bashar al-Assad said Islamic State fighters had pulled out of an area near the border. Assad’s forces, backed by Russian airpower, also launched an offensive against Islamic State last week and have advanced in territory further south. And at the opposite end of the self-proclaimed caliphate, 750 km down the Euphrates River, Iraqi […]